When it comes to speakers or earphones, it is hard to break Apple’s monopoly. The Airpods have taken over the market and are even challenging well-established brands like Bose. Although Sony has tried to play catch-up, price- and sound processing-wise, Airpods offer a much better deal. But Apple is not the only player, companies such as Jabra are making their mark in the market. While the 65t model was released a while ago, Jabra has come up with an upgrade. Although it is no longer the only player—Samsung has been doing well—still you can’t write off Jabra just yet.
Design: In comparison with its previous iteration, the Jabra earphones are certainly smaller in size and have a compact case, which makes it easy to carry. Having the same design as Samsung, Jabra earphones have a sport fit. They fit snuggly in the ear and are great as fitness bands. Both speakers have one button each, placed at the centre. While button operation is smooth, it could have been better given that you seem to press the earphone inside each time you press it, which after a few hours hurts.
Sound: Jabra is not known for noise cancellation or great sound. But the earphones do a good job as far as fitness training is concerned. For everyday use, Jabra does not disappoint. At the lower end, the sound was rather muted, but the earphones performed well on higher notes. The problem, though, was the sound. Although they are meant for fitness training, the maximum volume level was not something I was content with. The treble was not great, but Jabra does have a good bass, which again goes well with the training mode. Bluetooth connection did not disappoint one bit, and Jabra certainly has a wide range. This was one feature that was better than most other speakers in the market.
Features: The best part about Jabra was its app. Although it is not nifty and does not connect as fast, given the options available it was indeed great. Bass boost feature is one of the best modifications that Jabra has to offer. Clear sound, where you can hear the surroundings, however, did not work so well. There was a constant uneasiness for voices to be too processed in this feature. The fact that Jabra allows you to regulate sound according to your preference is a nice feature, as there is no active noise cancellation.
Battery: Battery is something that is Jabra’s strong suit, charging via the case was fast, and the earphones worked with relative ease for seven hours before the battery drained out. At higher levels and with features on, this was lower, but it was clearly not a disappointment. Of course, they are not Galaxy buds but they do have fast charging with 18 minutes, giving you approximately an hour’s charge. The company promises 28 hours of charge, but take it more as 23-24 hours, which is still very decent. What was missing, however, was wireless charging.
Price: Priced at Rs 15,000, Jabra is not cheap for a fitness speaker or for everyday wear. Galaxy has a cheaper range and Airpods are also a bit cheaper. So, Jabra really must get the pricing right, but given the design and use, they can come in handy. More important, given the app and Bluetooth connectivity they can be worth a consideration, especially if you are not going for Buds plus or Airpod pro.
Estimated street price: Rs 15,000
